Joshua 24:14-15 "14 "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
We are at the end of the book of Joshua. The people have entered the Promised Land. They have defeated many enemies with the help of God and seen many miracles by God in their deliverance.
So, as Joshua is nearing his death he urges the people to serve the Lord with all faithfulness. This is a foreshadowing of things to come, unfaithfulness, as we will see in the book of Judges.
How often do we make this pledge to the Lord? To serve Him with all faithfulness. Joshua tells the people if they don't want to serve God, then choose who they want to serve. We all serve somebody.
It reminds me of what Bob Dylan wrote in his song Gotta Serve Somebody,
"You may be a state trooper, you might be a young Turk,
You may be the head of some big TV network,
You may be rich or poor, you may be blind or lame,
You may be living in another country under another name
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody."
The prophet Samuel writes,
"For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry..."
(1 Samuel 15:23)
When we don't serve the Lord we are in rebellion towards him. Rebellion is basically occultic in God's eyes. Have you ever thought of rebellion and sin like that before? RC Sproul says sin is cosmic treason towards the Lord.
Whether implicitly or explicitly, our lives, thoughts, and actions indicate who we serve. We will never be perfect on this earth. But I think Paul had a great word on how we should view ourselves:
"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect....."(1 Corinthians 15:10)
And the Apostle John writes of what we will be:
"Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. "
(1 John 3:2-3)
As we celebrate what our Lord and Savior did for us on the cross, and His resurrection this Sunday, pray to the Lord to be renewed in faithfulness towards Him.
Have a happy Easter.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."Galatians 5:22-23
Soli Deo Gloria.
Today's post was submitted by Russ Shellhamer.
I like how you talked about serving God. In Joshua 22 we see this concept but in a different aspect. It demonstrates the plan of God for all of us. Serving God and man is the heart of the gospel message.
ReplyDeleteJosh 22:3 "You have not left your brethren these many days, up to this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the LORD your God.
Two and ½ tribes had received their inheritance on the east side of Jordan seven years earlier but they were commanded to come help the other tribes until every other tribe had obtained their inheritance. Only after the other tribes had obtained what God promised them were they allowed to go back and enjoy their inheritance. See Num 32, Deut 3:19 and Joshua 1:13 These two and half tribes were willing to lay down their life for their brothers instead of enjoying their own inheritance. This is the heart of the gospel. This is the heart of walking with God. This is the plan of God for all of us.
By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. I Jn 3:16
How do we do this? Our former Bible study director from my class at 2nd shared this with me. He had just come through a very bad divorce. There was a lot of turmoil in his life but he decided He wanted to serve God in spite of all his problems. He was appointed director of our class and the Lord used him to help a lot of people. Last December, during Angel’s of Light, he worked with the bus ministry as they went from apartment complexes to pick up people to attend the dinner and hear the message from Dr. Young. At one stop, he had to carry a man with no legs on his back into the bus. He was an Iraqi war refugee. They were picking up about 20 Muslim children and their parents who had just moved to the U.S. The kids were so touched by the gifts they received at 2nd they cried as they just marveled at the wrapping paper of the gifts. My friend was so touched; he is now going on the 2nd Baptist mission trip in a few weeks to Syria. God isn’t looking for perfect people to be used by Him. He is looking for anyone who is willing to ask Him to be used by Him to serve others. Go read, Joshua 22:8 and 9 and you will understand God will take care of those who obey Him. My friend finished his story by saying he had never experienced so much joy in his life. What a truth. Don’t wait until we have no problems but rather, start today to ask God how we can serve one another. If you need more direction in this area, your Bible study director would be glad to show you where there are opportunities.